Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-08-27

BURGESS CALLED AN AMATEUR WHO DOESN'T KNOW
HOW TO USE BEAN.

HOW TO USE BEAN.
From the New York Tribune.
III not always pleasant, II Is generally profitable,
ITO see ourselves as others see u.s. The last num-
Der Of the London Field, the great English sport
Ing paper, contains an Englishman,s view Of the
comparative merits OF the Volunteer and Thistle
which is amusing and interesting. 1t is furnished
by the New York correspondent OF the Field.
From the Englishman's point OF view all OF Bur-
CESS big s,oops, notwithstanding their success,
are exceedingly faulty In design and Burgess is
only an amateur designer. But 1t is satisfactory
to find that the Thistle is regarded as flrst-class
representative Of the best points that can be COM
bined in keel boat. This is the way the English
man regards the rival boats:
teer is REMARKABLY Ike Thistle She has the same
sheer and projecting bow and the same overhang
OF counter. The main difference OF appearance is
In the shape OF the deck line and that does not
show In side view. Thiste's deck line Is far more
gracefully drawn than that OF Volunteer, the lat
abaft the center Of load line then she keeps pretty
iu lor twenty feet or SO and comes In with RAPID
ugly turn into her narrow tafIrail In this portion
OF ner design Volunteer Is decided failure so Tar
as beauty is concerned The designer, Mr.. Bur-
CESS is reported to have stated that the builders
work. Fortunately for the purpose OF Volunteers
mission, tue defects In her water form are not OF
much consequence as regards the actual sailing
qualities OF the boat, though the extreme narrow
ness or the deck abaft the rudder head must mill
tate against the rapid handling OF the main sheet,
'There are radical differences of form, however,
between the two yachts, Thistle and Volunteer,
which do not present themselves TO any ordinary
view. First Volunteer has nearly feet more eX-
IRENE beam than the Thistle, but this is only at
one point. and from the way In which Thistle's
Oeck line is drawn she does not really get the BEN
eft OF her extreme beam to anything like the same
extent that Thistle gets from hers Watson's deck
lines are all beautifully proportional so as TO get
the greatest possible advantage from whatever
breadth OF beam he has to deal with The Burgess
Doats, on the contrary, are all detective In this
particular Their entrance lines are carried so far
aft that they are detective in spreads for their
SnroudS, their runs are rapid and ungraceful, and
they do not attain the fun benefit In l-carrytng
power which their nominal breadth OF beam would
entite them to under well-designed fore and aft
ueck line. For these reasons / am inclined to
t1k mat watson has really got more beam sta
a nlstle Than Burgess has got with his 23 feet
inches confined TO one single frame or SO in Vol
unteer.
Like most amateur designers on this side OF the
water Burgess lays great stress long, fine en-
trance and he has III all his designs so lar sacri
nccd oIher desirable qualities to the attainment
OF tnat feature. The runs OF all his boats are bad
SO much so that none OF them can ever attain
pie within their wauer-line length. 1t is perfectly
true that Puritan and Mayfiower fast boats.
How could they be otherwise with 5000 feet OF
canvas to 125 tons OF displacement? But the point
wish to make is tLat they do not any OF them
approach the highest speed that could be attained
by really wel-designed boat OF their dimen-
slons. A flat-bottOmed ScOw, drawing foot
and a half OF water, with 5000 yards OF
canvas on her would beat any OF them out
OF sight in smooth water. Volunteer draws
10 feet OF water, as against Thistle's IA feet or
14s feet, but then Volunteer has her center
board, by which She increases her draft about IA
1eet, and gets an increase OF the latter at i'm
mersed surface OF about $50 square feet. The
board does not really AEe as good support for car
rying sail as the same number of superficial feet
would do placed in keel with ballast low
down, as In Thistle, but on the other hand the
board can be hauled up when running free, and
serves TO lessen the mass to be driven through the
water This Is exactly the question that is to be
decided In the cup races this year for the first
time because ii Is only in Thistle that you have
ever sent over boat combining the qualities OF
sall-carrying power with good sailing lines
. All the other boats were built to meet the pecu-
liar rules OF few English clubs, and, although
meet boats that carried 30 or 40 per cent more
canvas to the ton OF displacement SO, In the
coming Thistle races We will really have some
thing like real test Of the qualities OF keel versus
center6oard, other things being equal l say
equa! because, although Thistle has only 20 feet
inches beam. as against Volunteers and May
MOVERS % feet inches, yet from the superiority
OF her fore and aft lines, Thistle gets really more
Denent fruIn her beam than either OF the other
boats. have been figuring things up for
some time back about Thistle and Mayf1Ower, and
the conclusion come to is that Thistle is from
10 minutes better than Mayt1Ower over the New
YORK course. Now, IL volunteer is really good
bit better than MayflOwer as the Boston people
Say, why then Thistle will have hard work to beat